


Ain't Got Time for Nothing Else

by smallearthcat (vamplover82)



Category: Common Law (TV)
Genre: M/M, Yuletide, Yuletide 2016
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-15
Updated: 2016-12-15
Packaged: 2018-09-08 20:32:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,477
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8859982
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vamplover82/pseuds/smallearthcat
Summary: After they explain Wes pulling his gun on Travis to the group, Wes begins to move on with his life. He just doesn’t realize why he’s doing it.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [strifechaos](https://archiveofourown.org/users/strifechaos/gifts).



> Comments and con. crit. are much appreciated.

"Couples therapy," says the Captain, and that’s where it all begins.

Wes doesn’t know why he agreed to go in the first place, because most days it’s really not worth dealing with Travis’ bullshit to be able to keep his place in Homicide. He questions his own sanity every time they go, wondering why he’s willing to do this when he wasn’t for Alex. It’s one of the great mysteries of his life, and one he prefers not to think about too hard. Even so, he knows he goes to her house too often, probably more out of a sense of guilt than out of jealousy, anymore.

And he’s tired of it, if he’s being honest with himself. He’s tired of allowing this to be his life, especially when he remembers how good it used to be. How in love with Alex he was, and how much he liked spending time with Travis. Having a place of his own and something besides work to get him out of bed in the morning.

Maybe the therapy thing is working for him more than he’d realized, especially since they’ve finally cleared the air about why he’d drawn his gun on Travis, because the very next weekend finds him apartment hunting.

It's sort of refreshing, for the first hour, at least. By the time his real estate agent has shown him four apartments, he's ready to call it quits, wondering why he's bothering with this. She seem to be getting irritable as well, but when she says, "This is the last one I have for you today," sounding resigned, he figures he can take just a little bit more.

In the end, he's glad he does, because this is by far the best place he's seen. It's quiet, adequate space, great kitchen, and apparently allows for small dogs. He didn't know that would be a feature he'd care about until she says it, but now that he's had the thought, he can't let go of it.

"How soon can I move in?" he asks, and just like that, she's all smiles, watching him quickly fill out the rental application. 

"Provided your background check comes out clean," to which he snorts, "in the next couple of days."

That's perfect timing, just long enough for him to acquire some furniture and possibly a dog, and shit what is he thinking with all this? Travis is going to have a field day. He thinks briefly about trying to keep it from his partner, but realistically speaking, Travesty should know where to find him if he's needed when they're off-duty.

"I found an apartment," Wes says before Travis even sits down at his desk. He's found that it's usually best just to get it out there right away, let Travis have his say, and then move on, forcibly if necessary. 

"Look at you, all grown up and striking out on your own." Travis grins with delight and then wipes a fake tear from his eye. "Mom and dad will be so proud." 

Wes rolls his eyes, but ignores the commentary. "No, you can't come furniture shopping with me."

Travis’ mouth snaps shut and Wes smiles down at his paperwork. He loves preempting Travis trying to butt in on his life. "But what if you buy something truly, appallingly awful?"

Wes looks up and raises his eyebrow, causing Travis to sigh in exasperation and finally flop down in his chair. "Okay fine, I'm sure it'll be as tastefully decorated as your house was."

"Of course it will," Wes says, a little smug, and Travis sulks until Wes finishes up his form and finally relents. "And if you want, you can come see it Saturday and make sure it meets your exacting specifications. 

Just like that, Travis is all smiles again, and a few minutes later, they catch a case, and it's back to business. 

***

When Travis knocks on his door on Saturday morning, Wes finds that he’s actually sort of nervous, which of course, there’s no call for. This is _Travis_ , after all; the guy lives in a trailer even though he can afford better, for pete’s sake.

Still, Wes allows himself to secretly enjoy the look of delight on Travis’ face as he prowls around the apartment, taking everything in before grabbing a soda from the fridge and flopping down across the couch.

Wes scowls, about to say something about the flopping or the shoes that most definitely _shouldn’t_ be on his new furniture, but before he has the chance, Travis is kicking his shoes off and reaching for the television remote.

Wes settles down into the recliner he really shouldn’t have splurged on - it had been so comfortable he hadn’t even cared - only half-listening as Travis starts up a running commentary of all the presets he’s changing. Wes should probably about that, but the truth is that he doesn’t watch enough TV to care. Travis might as well have it his own way since he’ll be the one using it.   
That though gives Wes pause, because what? He hadn’t… _tried_ to make his apartment more comfortable for Travis, had he?

He looks around, startled to find that though there’s nothing he’d bought that offends his sense of taste, there’s also nothing that would offend Travis’, either. In fact, now that he’s thinking about it, he distinctly remembers passing on a credenza he’d liked not because he hadn’t needed the storage space, but because he could just hear Travis telling him that only little old ladies and rich assholes would buy something as ridiculous as a credenza. At that realization, Wes’ mind just sort of...stops. He can’t have done all of this because of Travis, right?

Naturally, that’s when Travis notices that he’s not really offering any kind of protest, and Wes doesn’t think there’s panic showing on his face, but whatever is there is enough to make Travis ask, "What’s wrong?" and actually look _concerned_.

Wes doesn’t know what to say, and instead of just brushing it off, his mouth decides to take a vacation from his brain and just go off on its own. "Why is this so easy? How come you can just walk in here and make it feel like home?"

Travis stares at him as if he might seriously be off his rocker. Wes wouldn’t disagree at this point. "I did all of this for you-" _Because of you_ , that’s what he should have said. "-and I don’t even know why." He can hear how frustrated he sounds, and he hates it, hates that his internal meltdown is spilling out.

Travis turns off the television and twists around until he can look Wes right in the eye, and Wes is suddenly scared. "You know the group never really believed we were just work partners, right?" he asks gently. Wes wonders for a second at the non-sequitur, but Travis continues on before he has time to properly think about it. "They kept trying to tell me-" he breaks off to laugh, "-but of course, I didn’t believe them. I guess I should have, huh?"

Wes finds it difficult to process that, because what? When had any of this happened, and how had he never heard anything about it? "No," Wes denies, shaking his head as if that’ll make it true, "it’s not….Jesus, Travis, just last week you were making fun of me for still not being over Alex. Why would you even think that-?"

"Look, there’s an easy way to test this, right? Just come over here and plant one on me. If it doesn’t do anything for you, we’ll never talk about it again."

Strangely, Wes actually believes this, and maybe that’s why he does as Travis suggests. He’s sure there won’t be anything there, right up until the moment their lips meet and everything explodes into heat and desire.

Wes doesn’t know how long they spend there, just making out on his couch, but when they eventually come up for air, he finds that they’ve managed to sprawl all over each other, and somewhere in there, his shirt had made it about halfway off and Travis’ was inexplicably across the room.

Wes extracts himself slowly, tempted to go right back to it even as he’s moving away and buttoning his shirt. "So, looks like you might be right."

Travis grins at the admission, Wes fumbles the next button, causing Travis to grin wider. Wes sighs and turns away from the distraction. "But this is a terrible idea." For many reasons, of course, but mainly because Wes knows how easily Travis will be able to break him.

"Yeah, but is it worth the risk?"

Wes turns back to see Travis looking hopeful, like maybe he actually does want this as much as Wes does, and in the end, that’s what does him in. "It’s worth the risk."


End file.
